The Sylvesters
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and twenty-three: Sue brings home the show choir rule book and it catches someone's eye...


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, and fifty cycle. Now here's cycle 6!_

_I must preface this story by explaining where it came from ;) It came by way of this entry at glee_tv on LJ, and I've just been waiting to finally get to it! It's actually planned up through ten installments already, so... yeah ;) I can't get the link on here apparently, but the gist of it was "Wouldn't it be interesting if..." And well, you'll see the rest ;) I call it "AU... or is it" ;)_

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**"The Sylvesters"  
Sue & Brittany  
Companion to "I don't want to talk"**

Brittany didn't often go to the library on her own… it just wasn't her place. But her mother had dragged her along, needing "ammunition," as she said it. She'd stayed outside, sitting on the bench by the side. She waited nervously, not comfortable with the way 'Patches' was staring at her. But then…

"Brittany, let's go," her mother came out, clutching a book she saw was the show choir rule book. She stood to scramble along as Patches got barking. "Get a job, Peter!" was her mother's response.

As transparent as she could be with some information, it had managed to remain secret that her mother was none other than Sue Sylvester. She wasn't even sure why it was that way, but it had been the trade off for attending McKinley, so she took it. She'd never known her father. All she knew was that his name was Joe, and he'd left long ago, before she was born. Only by chance had she gotten to know her paternal grandfather. He and Joe hadn't been on speaking terms for over twenty years, but it was him her mother had found on the one time she had honestly tried to tell Joe. All he'd asked was to be allowed a place in his grandchild's life, and it was granted to him.

She'd asked her mother once why they were lying. She never gave her an outright answer, but she assured her it didn't mean she didn't love her. It was good enough for her.

On the ride home, Brittany had taken the book to look at. She frowned. "What's that for?" Her mother took the book away without looking. Her empty hands fell back in her lap.

"You don't stay up too late tonight, you understand?"

"Practice tomorrow," she spoke at the same time her mother did.

She'd been in dance classes for as long as she could remember. She hadn't always loved it. She distinctly remembered being seven or eight and wanting to quit lessons. Her mother told her to keep going, that 'Sylvesters didn't quit.' She'd pointed out her name wasn't Sylvester, and her mother had said her blood was.

By the next year, she'd not only gotten to like it again, she absolutely loved it. Then when she had first come to McKinley, first seen her mother's team, the Cheerios, she was enthralled. Her mother had come by her and whispered the words that fed her dreams… "One day you'll be one of them." So she went on applying herself, wanting to make her proud the day she first put on the red, white and black uniform.

For Sue, the motives hadn't been as plain as Brittany would have seen. Quite simply, she'd wanted to be able to keep an eye on her, especially if she should one day come to attend her school. So she'd groomed her for that path all her life. Her girl would belong… she'd blow all the other ones out of the water. And she did. Soon she'd been able to present her with a spot with the Cheerios.

When they arrived home, Brittany went up to her room. With the time it usually took her to get through her homework, she had no time to waste. She sat at her desk only once she'd changed out of her uniform. She hung it up neatly before putting on her regular clothes. She undid her ponytail, running her hands through her hair to break it from the residual ponytail-curve. She carried the elastic band to put it in its place, with her brush and other hair things. She'd always been a stickler for keeping her room neat… or maybe she was because her mother was… she wasn't sure anymore.

She firmly believed prized possessions should not be hidden, they should be there to remember as precious. This included her old friend Blippo, the stuffed blue hippo, sitting like a king on her book shelf. She had her Cheerios trophies too, lined up on her dresser all shiny and golden.

She sat at her desk, her books piled up next to her as she started through her homework. It was her least favorite part of the day, and she'd sometimes find herself just staring at the pages, blank minded, for minutes on end… it didn't help that she was hungry…

Her mother would eventually call her to dinner and she'd be freed from homework hell for a little while. She went downstairs, and when she did, she saw the book again. She looked around before picking it up and looking through it. She wasn't sure why she had it… she didn't even know what a show choir was…

"Brittany!" She jumped and dropped the book. She saw her mother standing there and hurried to pick the book off the floor. Soon as she was standing again, the book was snatched out of her hands. "What's so fascinating to you about this book?"

"I don't know," her eyes turned down. She heard a sigh.

"Go sit and eat," she indicated.

"Okay," Brittany nodded and moved along into the kitchen.

They ate quietly. From time to time, she'd turn her eyes up to see what her mother was doing... if she was looking at her, if she was angry. She didn't seem to be paying attention to her. But then…

"What is it?" Sue asked, putting her fork down as she looked at her.

"Nothing," Brittany assured her. She went on eating for a moment.

She always hesitated on what to call her. When they were at school, she was 'Coach Sylvester.' And when they were out somewhere, it was more complicated… But now they were home. She should be able to call her for what she was… She did… still she couldn't help thinking she might slip one day and say it elsewhere, so it was an act of caution.

"Mom…" She looked up at that. She could tell she wanted to ask something and wouldn't do it. She sighed.

"It's Glee Club," she answered, having guessed the question.

"Oh…" she reacted, then smirked to herself and got back to eating. After a few seconds, she heard her mother pick up her fork as well. She put the thought of the book out of her head after that. She more or less forgot about it… it had nothing to do with her…

THE END


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